Johnson eclipsed by sun

Ball hits returner in mask

Saints recover, score

Saints 29, Bears 23

September 23, 2002|By Fred Mitchell, Tribune staff reporter.

CHAMPAIGN — The sky was the limit for Bears kick returner Leon Johnson.

Johnson lost sight of John Carney's kickoff in the second quarter Sunday. The ball caromed off Johnson's face mask and was recovered by the Saints' Jerry Wilson on the Bears' 8-yard line. Two plays later, quarterback Aaron Brooks scooted 7 yards for a touchdown to cut the Saints' deficit to 20-14.

"You can't blame me for one play," Johnson said. "We're a team. We win as a team; we lose as a team. It was just the sun. That's all it was. I just lost it right at the very end."

It was 53 degrees and mostly cloudy at the opening kickoff. By the middle of the second quarter, the temperature had soared to 68 degrees and the sun shone too brightly for Johnson and the Bears. The Saints went on to win 29-23.

There was nothing special about the rest of the Bears' special-teams' play either.

A 29-yard punt by Brad Maynard helped set up New Orleans with decent field position on its game-winning touchdown drive, and a variety of infractions on punt and kickoff returns undermined the Bears' efforts to remain unbeaten. Maynard averaged 40.8 yards a punt and pinned the Saints inside their 20 three times. Paul Edinger went 3-for-4 on field-goal tries. He had the distance but was wide right on a 58-yard try at the end of the half.

The most egregious error may have been Johnson's muff, but Bears coach Dick Jauron said he still believes in the fifth-year back from North Carolina.

"I hope so," said Johnson, who also fumbled a punt but recovered it himself. "That could happen to anybody. I just lost it at the end.

"Special teams is one phase of the game that you have to capitalize on. You just can't take it lightly."

Johnson's fumble was recovered barely inbounds by Wilson. But the Bears didn't challenge the officials' ruling.

"I couldn't see it and couldn't tell if it was inbounds when he recovered it," Johnson said. "So I couldn't argue for us."

Johnson does not possess the blazing speed generally associated with NFL kick returners. It has been his normally sure hands and reliable returns that have made him valuable.

"Well, obviously, the two fumbled [kicks] you can't have," Jauron said. "It was very unlike Leon. This is a game played by fallible people. You have to believe in them. I certainly believe in Leon Johnson. The sun was a huge factor on the kickoff, but you can't do anything about the sun. You have to play in it."

The Bears' special-teams miscues made the task of offensive coordinator John Shoop more demanding in the second half. The Bears were limited to a 25-yard Edinger field goal after intermission.

"Anytime you're up the way we were, you expect to finish the game offensively and put them away," Shoop said. "We were unable to do that. We moved the ball some, but when you're kicking field goals instead of scoring touchdowns when you have opportunities to score touchdowns, it comes back to haunt you. That's really what happened today."